Sonny Corinthos grew up in Bensonhurst, New York with his mother and abusive stepfather. Sonny's father had been a gambler who had cleaned out the family's savings and walked out on his family when Sonny was a very young boy. Adela's second husband was a cop who had hid his violent nature from his bride until it was too late for her to walk away. Deke beat his wife and stepson, often locking Sonny in a closet for hours on end as punishment until Adela had persuaded her teenage son to leave home and move in with a friend for his own safety. After a particularly violent beating, Adela had landed in the hospital where she had passed away.

Sonny had lost faith in the justice system when Deke's friends on the police force had covered up Deke's role in his wife's beating. Having nothing left to lose, Sonny turned to local mobster, Joe Scully Sr. Joe had taken Sonny under his wing, and when Sonny had joined the organization, Joe killed Deke. Sonny never looked back, and he made his first appearance in Port Charles in 1993 as the owner of the Paradise Lounge, a strip club where high school student Karen Wexler worked as a stripper. Sonny and Stone Cates lived in the apartment above the club. Sonny had been drawn to Karen, but she her heart had belonged to Jagger Cates. Unfortunately, Karen had gotten hooked on drugs, which Sonny supplied her with. One day, Karen's boyfriend found Sonny and Karen in bed together. Enraged, Jagger beat up Sonny then rescued Karen. Sonny retaliated by putting a hit on Jagger, but Marco Dane, Jagger's manager, offered Sonny a piece of Jagger's boxing winnings instead. Sonny accepted the deal because Sonny's strip joint had been shut down for having underage kids like Karen working there.

Sonny started to work with Luke Spencer in Frank Smith's organization. He also began casually dating Brenda Barrett. Sonny helped Luke break Frank Smith out of jail, and when there was a shootout, Sonny took two bullets. As a result, he passed out while he was driving and crashed into Brenda's car. Brenda took Sonny back to his apartment and donated her blood to save his life.

Later on, Brenda introduced Sonny to her friend, Lois Cerullo. As it turned out, Lois and Sonny had grown up together in Bensonhurst. The three started a record company, L&B Records. Sonny also partnered up with Luke Spencer to open a blues club. In 1995, a drifter, Mike Corbin, came into town, and Luke hired him to work at the club. It was later revealed that Mike was Sonny's estranged father.

Ned Ashton hired Mac to investigate Sonny, and by that time, Brenda had moved in with Sonny. After getting shot at in the shower, Brenda became suspicious of Sonny's career. Ned and Lois convinced her to wear a wire. But Lily Rivera had warned Sonny about the wire, so Sonny confronted Brenda and threw her out.

That summer, Sonny's close friend -- and Jagger's younger brother -- Stone became sick with what he believed was the flu, but he couldn't shake the symptoms. After an HIV test, Stone revealed to his girlfriend Robin Scorpio, and Sonny that he had AIDS. As Stone's health declined, Sonny took money from an illegal account to pay for Stone's medical bills. The two became closer at the end of Stone's life, and Stone's death on November 29 left Sonny devastated.

Meanwhile, Sonny and Brenda started to rekindle things until Sonny discovered that he was being investigated for racketeering. He sold his shares of Luke's Blues Club to Lucy Coe and his part of L&B to Edward Quartermaine. Lily's father, Hernando Rivera, offered to make Sonny's trouble disappear if Sonny promised to marry Lily, so he did. But soon after, Sonny decided to run away with Brenda. His plans were put on hold when he discovered that Lily was pregnant. Unfortunately, Hernando thought that Sonny planned to leave Lily, so Hernando had a bomb put in Sonny's car. To Hernando's horror, Lily was killed instead of Sonny.

In 1996, Sonny took Jason Morgan under his wing. Jason had been Alan Quartermaine's youngest son, but a car accident had left Jason without any memory of his past or an emotional connection to his family. Sonny was one of the few people who accepted Jason for who he was without wanting to mold him back into who he was prior to the accident. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship and partnership between Sonny and Jason that would withstand the test of time.

After Sonny pulled away from Brenda, she went back to Jasper Jacks. Sonny realized that he couldn't lose her to Jax, so he set out to stop their wedding by tracking down a ghost from Jax's past -- Jax's first wife. Jax was stunned because he had been led to believe that Miranda had been killed. In time, Sonny and Brenda found their way back to each other, and they decided to get married. However, Sonny made the decision to leave Brenda at the altar because he couldn't expose her to the same dangers that had killed Lily. Sonny left town, and Brenda moved on with Jax.

Everything changed on September 11, 1998 when Brenda was presumed killed when her mother, Veronica, drove the car they were riding in over a cliff and into the ocean. Jason led Sonny back to town, and the two determined to stay legitimate by starting a coffee importing business. Soon after, Sonny was forced to take back his territory, but he refused to let Jason help him.

In 1999, Sonny met Hannah Scott, a waitress at Luke's Club. She bore a striking resemblance to Brenda, but soon she individualized herself as her own woman. After a brief courtship, they became lovers, and Sonny gave her his heart. He was devastated when Jason and Carly revealed to him that Hannah was an undercover FBI agent, assigned to take him down. He continued the relationship long enough to feed false information to the Feds, and then Sonny threw Hannah out of his penthouse.

Hurt, Sonny had a passionate one-night stand with Carly Benson-Quartermaine, who was reeling from the pain of thinking Jason had fallen in love with Elizabeth Webber. Carly was married to Jason's brother, A.J., with whom she shared a son, but she was in love with Jason. Carly wanted to hurt Jason by sleeping with his best friend. Sonny and Carly had sex, and a few weeks later Carly learned that she was pregnant. Determined to claim his child, Sonny freed Carly and her son, Michael, from her loveless marriage to A.J. then moved them in to live with him.

One night when Carly was at the Quartermaine mansion to visit with Lila, she and A.J. had an encounter on the stairs. A.J. had just returned home drunk, and the two began to argue. During the heated exchange, Carly lost her balance and fell backwards down the long staircase. Carly miscarried her baby. Sonny and Carly were devastated as they retreated to his private island in Puerto Rico with Michael to give Carly time to recover.

A while after they returned home, Sonny's father, Mike, got into trouble with some loan sharks who happened to be working for Sonny's archenemy, Joseph Sorel. Carly tried to help out and she arranged for a meeting between Mike and Sorel. Carly hid in the closet and was shocked when Sonny took the meeting and the police showed up. Carly's testimony had the potential to send Sonny to prison. Alexis Davis, Sonny's lawyer, recommended that Carly and Sonny marry since spouses could not be forced to incriminate each other.

On September 19, 2000, Sonny and Carly were married. A justice of the peace performed the wedding ceremony in Sonny's penthouse, with Alexis and Jason as witnesses. After many fights and rough spots, Carly and Sonny eventually realized that they liked each other, and decided to remain married and give each other a chance. Although they were falling in love, neither of them would admit it. After Sonny was shot and badly wounded on December 27 outside the police station, they admitted their love for one another. On February 23, 2001 they remarried in front of God in a chapel on Martinique.

Within months, Carly had once again betrayed Sonny, this time by attempting to get him into the Witness Protection Program by working with undercover agent Roy DeLuca. Sonny ended the marriage then found himself at Lily's grave where his enemy was lurking in the shadows. Joseph Sorel stabbed Sonny, but Sonny was rescued by a woman in white named Angel Ellis. Angel took Sonny to her home where she nursed him back to health. Later, Sonny learned that Angel was the estranged daughter of Sorel.

Despite the divorce, Carly agreed to allow Sonny to adopt Michael. Sonny then assigned Zander Smith to watch over Carly who had opened a new business. Meanwhile, a labor dispute at his Puerto Rican rum plantation caused Alexis and Sonny to fly out to handle the delicate negotiations. After the contract was pinned down, Sonny took Alexis out to get her to loosen up. Alexis enjoyed the feeling and found herself attracted to Sonny.

Back in Port Charles, Sonny met his long lost sister, Courtney Matthews. Courtney had been born years after Mike had left Adela and Sonny. While attempting to build a relationship with her, Courtney temporarily resided with Alexis and Kristina Cassadine. Kristina, Alexis' sister, had taken it upon herself to protect her sister from Sonny. However, Sonny was aware of Alexis' feelings, and he returned them. On April 23, 2002 Sonny and Alexis succumbed to their mutual attraction and made love. As fate would have it, Carly walked in on them and then ran out of the penthouse. Later, Carly's skidded over a cliff, and she was presumed dead. Sonny was grief-stricken and filled with remorse. However, a bedraggled Carly made a dramatic entrance at her own funeral. Overjoyed, Sonny and Carly reconciled, which had effectively ended any budding relationship with Alexis.

A few weeks later, Alexis discovered that she was pregnant, but she opted to lie by claiming that Ned Ashton was the father because she didn't want to stay in Sonny's world. Kristina found out the truth, but was she killed in an explosion at Sonny's warehouse, which had been set by rival crime lord, Luis Alcazar. Alexis swore that she would never forgive Sonny or his cohorts. When she gave birth to a baby girl, named Kristina to honor her sister, but Sonny remained unaware that he was the child's biological father.

Sonny was busy dealing with his sister's marriage to archenemy, A.J. Quartermaine, as well as Brenda's miraculous return from the dead when it was revealed that she had survived the plunge into the ocean and rescued by Luis Alcazar. When Luis was found dead after falling from his balcony, Brenda and Jason were tried for Alcazar's murder, but they were cleared when it was revealed that Alexis had shoved the nefarious arms dealer in an act of self-defense. Although Brenda and Sonny had shared a brief kiss, they knew that their hearts belonged with other people. Unfortunately, Carly saw their kiss, and she jumped to the wrong conclusion, but Sonny was able to smooth things out in time.

In the spring of 2003, things between Carly and Sonny hit another snag when the widow of a rival mobster's goon drugged Carly in an attempt to rape her. Ric Lansing, her business partner, rescued her, only to take advantage of the situation by making it appear that he and Carly had had a one-night stand. When Carly discovered that she was pregnant, she had no idea who the father was. Sonny found out about it, but he and Carly uncovered Ric's treachery and true motivations. Ric was Sonny's half-brother on his mother's side, who had blamed Sonny for ruining both Ric and their mother's lives.

Ric's vendetta against his brother escalated when Ric's new bride, Elizabeth Webber, was shoved down a flight of stairs and miscarried their baby. Ric was certain that Sonny had done the deed because Faith Roscoe -- Ric's ex-love and Sonny's mob rival -- had set it up to appear that Sonny had pushed Liz.

Sonny denied harming Liz, and he focused on his growing family with Carly. The only fly in the ointment was Courtney's romance with Jason. Sonny loved his sister, but he didn't approve of her being with someone in the mob, including Jason. In time, Sonny grew to accept Courtney and Jason's relationship. Carly was instrumental in that because Courtney was her best friend.

Sonny and Carly decided to remarry, but Carly vanished on their wedding day. Unbeknownst to anyone, Ric had a secret panic room in his new home that he shared with Liz. Ric had abducted Carly, stashed her in the panic room, and intended to hold her there until she gave birth to the child that he hoped to claim as his own to make up for the child that he firmly believed that Sonny had taken.

Lorenzo Alcazar, Luis' identical twin brother, had figured out that Ric had taken Carly, so Lorenzo nabbed Carly before Sonny and Jason could figure things out. Lorenzo spirited Carly out of town, and he would only release her in return for Sonny letting drugs go through the Port Charles territory. Sonny agreed, but within a few weeks, Sonny stormed Lorenzo's yacht to free Carly. The plan worked, until Courtney was taken hostage. Courtney escaped, but tragically she miscarried her child with Jason. Meanwhile, Lorenzo had become obsessed with Carly, so he was determined to get her back.

On July 1, 2002, Sonny and Carly exchanged vows for a third time. Alcazar tried to romance Carly away from Sonny and when that failed, he hatched a new plan. He made over a prostitute to look exactly like Lily, Sonny's first wife. Alcazar then had "Lily" haunt Sonny in an effort to convince Sonny that Carly and the unborn child would be hurt unless Sonny left them. Sonny believed in the visions, and he bought Carly her dream house then told her that she could live there with the children -- but not him. The plan nearly succeeded until "Lily" slipped up and told Sonny something from their past that had never happened. Sonny realized that it had been a vicious ruse.

On October 23, Sonny desperately tried to find Carly as a storm raged. As he approached a house that she had been planning to look at, Sonny heard Carly cry out from inside. He pulled out his gun then kicked in the door. Sonny saw Alcazar hovering over Carly, so he fired a shot. As Alcazar fell to the side, Sonny realized that Carly had been in labor, so he raced over to help her deliver their son. It was only when he held his son in his arms that he realized that the bullet had gone through Alcazar and struck Carly in the head.

Morgan Stone Corinthos was healthy, Carly passed out then lapsed into a coma for few weeks. Sonny stayed by her side as much as possible, but whenever he left, Alcazar arrived to sit with Carly. Infuriated, Sonny tried to get Alcazar banned from her hospital room, but the doctors believed that Carly had responded to Alcazar, so Sonny agreed to let him continue to see Carly. Desperate to protect Carly and his family from further harm, Sonny decided to leave the mob and handed the business over to Jason.

When Carly emerged from the coma, she wasn't quite herself. While she had been in her coma, she had dreamed of an alternate life in which Alcazar was the man that she loved, and Sonny was the bad guy wanting to break up her marriage. Adding to the tensions was Carly's inability to feel the love that she had once felt for Sonny and the children.

Sonny tried his best to be patient with Carly, and to reconnect with her. He took Carly and the kids to the island where they had first declared their love to no avail. Sonny took off to confront Alcazar. Carly called Jason to stop Sonny then contacted Alcazar to tell him to get out of town. Instead, Alcazar stayed behind to set Sonny up for attempted murder.

Carly arrived on the scene to try to stop Sonny from shooting Alcazar, but she was too late. After shooting Alcazar, Sonny ran in front of a car and got the driver, Sam McCall, to get him out of there. Sam drove out of town, and she coaxed Sonny to pour his heart out about Carly and their situation. Sam sympathized with him and she advised him not to give up on Carly.

When Sonny was arrested, Sam refused to press charges. As the trial loomed, Carly grew desperate to help Sonny out of the situation that she had put him in. She whisked Sonny off to France to begin a life on the run as a fugitive. But Sonny decided that he needed to set a good example to their children, and he went back to Port Charles. After an emotional testimony by Sonny, the jury found him not guilty. Afterwards, Carly was telling off Alcazar for setting up Sonny when she collapsed. She awoke with her feelings of love for Sonny and her kids fully restored.

With Carly back in good health, Sonny made plans to take care of business, since he had never really left the mob. Sonny got on a plane to attend a business meeting. Before the plane could take off, Sam jumped onboard as shots rang out. She convinced Sonny to take her to Azure Key, a remote island, in exchange for a piece of the treasure that she was carrying. He agreed. While there, the plane experienced a fuel leak and Sonny and Sam were forced to spend the night in a shack together. Then a hurricane moved in, as did a particularly nasty man who had killed Sam's father and gone after her because she knew where the treasure was that had belonged to Blackthorn the pirate. When the man attacked Sam, Sonny saved her.

When Sonny returned to Port Charles, Faith Roscoe drugged Carly, and Carly was committed to Shadybrook. While Carly was there, Faith had her brainwashed against Sonny. Lorenzo Alcazar rescued Carly and took her to one of his safe houses to recover. Alcazar cared for Carly and confessed his love for her. Sonny arrived and overheard Carly admit that she had feelings for both Lorenzo and Sonny.

Hurt, Sonny began an affair with Sam. He enjoyed Sam's company, but he remained in love with Carly. In time, Sonny and Carly reconciled, but their happiness did not last. Sam found out that she was pregnant with Sonny's child. Jason and Sonny decided to alter the paternity test so Jason appeared to be the baby's father. Carly had her own secret. She knew Sonny was the father of Alexis' daughter, Kristina.

In November 2004, Sonny learned that Kristina needed a bone marrow transplant. No match had been found, so Alexis had turned to Sonny. Carly admitted that she had known the truth about Kristina, and Sonny was unable to forgive the betrayal. Sadly, Sonny was not a match for Kristina, but Alexis hoped that Sam's unborn child might be able to provide live-saving stem cells. Alexis asked if Sam would consider inducing her labor, but Sam was offended by the question. Desperate, Alexis tried to explain Kristina's dire situation, but Sam became increasingly upset. Suddenly, Sam doubled over in pain then collapsed.

Sam was rushed into surgery, but the baby was stillborn. Despite the tragedy, Sonny and Sam's daughter, whom Sam had named Lila, gave Kristina the gift of life. Doctors assured everyone that Sam's condition had not been a result of the argument, but Sam harbored deep resentment toward Alexis. Later, it was revealed that Sam was Alexis' long-lost daughter.

Meanwhile Ric continued his vendetta against Sonny. Ric had known that Kristina was Sonny's child when he had married Alexis. Sonny was livid that Ric would be raising his daughter. When Sonny discovered Ric and Alexis planned to purchase the Greystone estate, Sonny bought it out from under them. The feud between the brothers took a rest when Faith and A.J. kidnapped all of Sonny's children. A special federal agent, Reece Marshall, was assigned to help find the children. Kristina and Morgan were returned home, but Michael was not. A.J. had seized the opportunity to fake Michael's death.

A.J. Quartermaine had been presumed dead, so no one had suspected him. A.J. brainwashed Michael into believing that Sonny and Carly did not love or want him. Once A.J. was confident that his son was firmly on his side, A.J. returned home. To A.J.'s delight, Michael was angry and lashed out at Sonny and Carly by demanding to live with the Quartermaine family. Sonny and Carly refused to give up, and it paid off when Michael realized that A.J. had lied.

After A.J. was presumed murdered, Reece remained in Port Charles at the request of John Durant, Carly's father. She had been instructed to find evidence against Sonny. Sonny was drawn to Reese, and the two embarked on an affair. Carly clashed with Sonny's new girlfriend, and for good reason. Carly had suppressed her memory of Reese, who had once been Carly's childhood best friend -- and the daughter of the man who had molested a teenage Carly.

As the months passed, it became clear to Sonny that Carly was not well. When Carly mistook Emily Quartermaine for Faith Roscoe, Sonny realized that Carly had suffered a breakdown and he had her committed to Roselawn. Sonny's relationship with Reese ended when he learned that she'd had a one-night stand with Ric.

While Carly was in Roselawn, Emily Quartermaine helped Sonny out with his children. Emily had been in the midst of divorcing her husband, Nikolas Cassadine, because he'd had an affair with Sonny's sister, Courtney. Emily moved into Sonny's house and developed feelings for him. She kept them hidden until Sonny was infected with a deadly encephalitis virus.

Once Sonny recovered, he admitted that he returned Emily's romantic feelings, but he was hesitant to enter a relationship with her due to his friendship with her brother, Jason. Sonny had also suffered the loss of his sister to the deadly virus, and he struggled to deal with his relationships with Alexis and her newfound daughter Sam. Sonny had impregnated both a mother and a daughter, and he worried how his daughter, Kristina, would react when she was old enough to understand.

Emily and Sonny decided to take things slow. It wasn't long until Emily noticed Sonny's mood swings and drinking. Ric constantly pushed Sonny to drink and encouraged his rants and rages. Things escalated when Ric married Alexis, becoming Kristina's stepfather. Jason did not want Emily exposed to Sonny's dark moods and outbursts, but Emily suspected that Sonny's moods were a result of a mental illness. She convinced Sonny to get medical treatment.

On July 24, 2006, Sonny went to therapy and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. His relationship with Emily didn't last, but they remained close friends until her untimely death the following year.

When Carly was released from Roselawn, she continued her friendship and business partnership with Jax. Sonny was not pleased that Carly and Jax had become close. Sonny wanted to try again with Carly, but she was not as sure. Carly chose a relationship with Jax instead of Sonny, and she became engaged to Jax.

However, Sonny shot Alcazar in self-defense, and Carly became tangled in the legal mess. She had to marry Sonny so they could not testify against one another. Sonny wanted his fourth marriage to Carly to be real. She remained engaged to Jax. Sonny had already been cleared of the charges when he married Carly, but he did not tell her. On January 16, 2007, Carly and Sonny were legally wed for a third time.

A few weeks later, the hostage crisis at the Metro Court Hotel made the bond between Carly and Sonny stronger. They had both been held hostage by Mr. Craig, an alias for Jerry Jacks, and Sonny used his influence and power to secure a safe release for Carly. However, Carly refused to leave Sonny. The two worked together to crack the code to a briefcase that Jerry wanted. Despite the harrowing events and Sonny and Carly's appreciation for each other, they called it quits in April. Carly went on to marry Jax.

One night, a woman from Sonny's past reentered his life. Kate Howard, the editor of a fashion magazine, used the phone in his office. Sonny had dated Kate as a teenager in Bensonhurst. Back then, Kate was known as Connie Falconeri. Sonny and Kate flirted, but Kate denied that she was interested in Sonny -- then she bought the mansion next door to Sonny. In time, Sonny and Kate began a relationship. Sonny took Kate back to Bensonhurst and proposed to her, but she said no because Kate did not want to link herself to Sonny's sketchy reputation. After the rejection, Sonny had a one-night stand with a woman in a bar.

The woman turned out to be Claudia Zacchara, the daughter of a rival mob boss that had hoped to stake a claim in Port Charles. Claudia hoped to enlist Sonny's help to seize control of her father's empire, but he was not interested. Sonny decided he wanted a life with Kate more than he wanted power, so he turned his business over to Jason. Sonny focused on his coffee import business.

On April 4, 2008, Kate and Sonny took Michael to see one of Sonny's warehouses. Claudia had conspired with Dr. Ian Devlin and Jerry Jacks to shoot Sonny because Claudia wanted Sonny to pay for having beaten her brother Johnny. Sonny saw the glare of a sniper's rifle just as a shot rang out. On instinct, Sonny called out a warning to Kate as he pushed her to the ground. Seconds later, Sonny's worst nightmare was realized when a worker called out that Michael had been shot. Sonny saw Michael bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head.

Michael survived, but he lingered in a coma that doctors had little hope that he would wake up from. Heartbroken, Sonny and Carly moved him to a long-term care facility, in the hope that someday there might be medical treatment that would reverse the damage. On the way home from dropping Michael off at the facility, Sonny and Carly had sex in the back of the limousine. Carly's feelings for Sonny were unchanged, and she demanded that he sign away his rights to Michael and Morgan. He realized that even out of the mob, he was still a target, so he complied.

Sonny and Jason searched for the shooter, but they found more questions than answers. Kate forgave Sonny for his indiscretions with both Claudia and Carly, and they made plans to marry. Kate's cousin, Olivia Falconeri, arrived in Port Charles to be the maid of honor. On September 29, Anthony Zacchara, Claudia's father, hid in the church and waited for Kate to join Sonny at the altar then fired a shot at Kate. Kate collapsed in Sonny's arms, and Anthony took steps to frame Russian mob boss Andrei Karpov. Kate had survived the shooting, but she lingered in critical condition.

Sonny decided to reclaim his organization, but Jason refused to hand it over. Jason feared that Sonny was not thinking clearly to call the shots. As Anthony had hoped, Sonny turned to the Zacchara family for help. Anthony Zacchara agreed to turn his organization over to Sonny under one condition, Sonny had to marry Claudia. Sonny agreed to the terms. When Kate recovered, she was hurt by Sonny's choices. Claudia moved in with Sonny know that he was still in love with Kate. Claudia didn't care as she began an affair with Ric.

In time, Sonny grew to respect Claudia. He learned how growing up with Anthony as a father had damaged her, and he appreciated her knowledge of organized crime. Claudia respected Sonny, and she eventually fell in love with him, but she was not able to let her guard down. Jerry Jax had hidden DVDs around Sonny's house that had incriminated Claudia in Michael's shooting. Claudia knew that Sonny would kill her if he learned about her role in Michael's shooting.

Claudia decided that she needed to become pregnant with Sonny's child to save her own life. She compromised Sonny's condoms, and she continued to sleep with Ric to increase her odds. She attempted to sleep with Dominic Pirelli, a former Zacchara employee who worked for Sonny, but Dominic refused. Claudia intended to pass off her baby as Sonny's regardless who the father was.

When Sonny learned that Claudia was pregnant, he was not thrilled. He did not want more children because of how his life had impacted the children that he had, especially Michael. Claudia visited Michael and admitted that she had planned the shooting.

Almost a year later, Michael underwent an experimental medical procedure that had worked a miracle; Michael woke up. Claudia became uneasy when she learned that Michael had had vague memories of the conversations that visitors had shared with him while he had been in a coma. Sonny believed Claudia was being a supportive wife when she pressed Sonny to allow Michael to live with them, but in truth, Claudia had wanted to keep tabs on what Michael remembered.

Michael recovered, but Claudia suffered a tragic loss when she miscarried her baby following a car accident. Sonny's daughter Kristina had been driving without a license, and Kristina had caused the accident. When Sonny learned Kristina had been the driver, he forgave his daughter and worked with Alexis to hide what Kristina had done. Sonny and Kristina became closer, but Claudia had felt betrayed by Sonny's lack of anger. To cheer Claudia up, Sonny planned a birthday party for her at the Metro Court, but the party would end in disaster when Sonny learned the truth about her role in Michael's shooting, and he confronted her at the party.

Claudia snapped, and she took Carly hostage. Carly was pregnant with Jax's child, and it had been a high-risk pregnancy. Carly went into labor during the car ride, but she managed to briefly escape Claudia's clutches. Claudia had caught up with Carly by the time Carly was ready to give birth in an abandoned cabin. Within minutes, Carly gave birth to a baby girl. Almost immediately, Carly realized that Claudia intended to abduct her daughter.

Michael found his mother, his new baby sister, and Claudia just as Carly cried out for Claudia to return the baby. Fearing the worst, Michael grabbed an axe handle then entered the cabin. He struck Claudia once on the head to stop her from fleeing with the baby. Claudia was killed instantly. Sonny, Jason, and Carly decided to cover up Claudia's death, which would return to haunt them down the road.

Sonny quickly became the prime suspect when Claudia's body surfaced. One of Sonny's new employees, Dominic Pirelli, helped burn the evidence of Claudia's death. However, Dominic was an undercover cop, and he'd secretly collected evidence to use against Sonny. Dominic had quickly become a part of Sonny's inner sanctum, and he had bonded with Sonny's children when he was assigned to guard them. Sonny began to groom Dominic to take over his business, which disappointed Michael because Michael had hoped to follow in Sonny's footsteps.

On January 29, 2010, Sonny decided to take action when he learned that Dominic was an undercover cop. He lured Dominic to his home then shot him. Seconds later, Olivia Falconeri ran. She was horrified by what Sonny had done because Dominic was really Dante Falconeri -- Sonny's son.

Sonny and Olivia had briefly dated when he and her cousin had broken up. Olivia had learned that she was pregnant, but she had kept quiet because Sonny had joined the mob and she hadn't wanted any part of that life for her son. Olivia had allowed her family to believe that Dante could be any number of men that she had been with because no one had known about her relationship with Sonny. Luckily, Dante had survived the shooting, and he had covered for his father by claiming that the shooting had been a self-inflicted accident.

The father and son reunion did not go smoothly. Each remained on their side of the law. A federal prosecutor, Claire Walsh, was called in to take down Sonny. She believed that Michael was hiding something about Claudia's murder, and she asked Dante for help. When Dante learned Michael had killed Claudia, not Sonny, Dante shared the news with the judge. Dante had hoped that the judge would understand that it had been a justified homicide, but the judge had been furious that everyone around Michael had covered it up and lied. Michael was sent to prison to teach everyone a lesson.

Sonny accused Dante of choosing the law over family. Sonny and Carly found brief comfort in each other arms, but they did not reunite. Sonny worked with Claire to gather evidence against Johnny Zacchara, while Jason arranged to go to jail to protect Michael. While Claire worked with Sonny to take down Johnny, she also worked with Johnny to take down Sonny.

Kristina had also started to act out. To hurt Sonny, Kristina persuaded Johnny to pretend to date her. Johnny agreed because he enjoyed tormenting Sonny. The ploy worked too well. Sonny had a bomb planted in Johnny's car, and Kristina was nearly killed when it detonated. Thanks to Johnny's quick action, both Johnny and Kristina survived the blast.

As part of her job, Claire had to investigate the car bomb. She enjoyed bantering with Sonny, and they began to date. Michael was released from prison into Dante's custody, but Michael was not allowed to have contact with Sonny. Later, it would be revealed that Michael had been violently raped during his time in jail.

Soon after, Sonny shot Johnny Zacchara in self-defense, but Ronnie Domestico tampered with evidence. Ronnie disposed of Johnny's gun, which countered Sonny's story of self-defense. Sonny jumped bail and went to Rome, where his former love, Brenda Barrett, had been living. Sonny and Brenda reminisced about their time together, but they decided that it was best for Sonny to return home to his children.

Claire Walsh taped a conversation in which Sonny discussed his hatred of Johnny. She destroyed the tape. Sonny took Claire on a romantic vacation, and then broke up with her to pursue Brenda when she returned to town. Brenda was trying to hide from an international criminal known as the Balkan.

Although friends and family advised against it, Sonny and Brenda reunited. They became engaged at Luke and Tracy's wedding and asked Dante to be the best man. Dante was reluctantly agreed because he and Brenda shared a secret. Four years earlier, Dante had been assigned to protect Brenda. Dante had helped Brenda hide a pregnancy, and he had covered up a murder in self-defense that she had committed. Brenda had killed the Balkan's son -- the father of her baby. To hide the existence of the child, Dante had agreed to be named the legal father. Neither Brenda nor Dante had told Sonny.

On February 18, 2011, Sonny and Brenda's wedding day, Carly interrupted the ceremony. She showed Sonny the document declaring Sonny's soon-to-be wife had a child with his son. Brenda explained that Dante had protected her child from the Balkan, which had been a moot point because she had miscarried the child late in the pregnancy. The wedding continued and Sonny and Brenda were married.

The Balkan, Theo Hoffman, changed his plan for Brenda when he learned she had been pregnant. He kidnapped Brenda as Sonny and Brenda were leaving the wedding. A car bomb was set off to look like Brenda had been inside. When Sonny realized the bomb had been a diversion to kidnap Brenda, he stopped at nothing to find her and rescued Brenda from the Balkan's clutches.

Shortly after Sonny and Brenda's honeymoon, Suzanne Stanwyck, the Balkan's widow, turned up on Greystone Manor's doorstep with a child named Lucian, whom Suzanne claimed was Brenda's presumed dead son. Brenda immediately embraced the child, but Sonny cautioned Brenda to have a DNA test done to confirm Suzanne's claims. Brenda eventually agreed to a DNA test but Lucian was kidnapped before a test was run.

Lucian's disappearance placed a great strain on Sonny's marriage to Brenda. She believed one of his business rivals had been behind the kidnapping, while Sonny suspected Suzanne. Against Sonny's advice, Brenda turned to Jax and offered a public reward for the safe return of her son. Sonny continued to quietly investigate Suzanne and he located her in San Antonio. Sonny worried that Brenda's emotions would inhibit her ability to remain calm in a crisis, so Sonny took Dante and Carly with him to confront Suzanne. They were all shocked to discover Brenda's real son was a boy named Alec and that Lucian had been placed with Brenda to keep her from ever meeting her biological son. Sonny brought Alec home and introduced Brenda to her child.

Brenda continued to struggle with her adjustment to life as Sonny's wife and with her new role as a mother. She remained concerned over Alec's safety and repeatedly asked Sonny to turn over his business to Jason. Sonny explained that he would always be a target for violence regardless of his position and he refused to leave his children behind to run away and begin a new life somewhere else with Brenda and her son.

The beginning of the end of Sonny's marriage to Brenda happened when they each took opposite sides in the custody battle between Jax and Carly. Sonny arranged for Jax to be drugged by the court appointed mediator and the woman claimed that Jax had tried to assault her. The judge awarded full custody to Carly, and Brenda begged Sonny to undo the damage that he had done to Jax. Sonny refused to admit any wrongdoing. Brenda told Sonny their marriage was over and she took her son and returned to Rome in November on Jax's private jet.

With Brenda gone, Sonny lashed out and blamed Jax for taking Brenda away from him. When Jax sneaked back into town to kidnap his daughter, Sonny went after Jax with reckless abandon. He tampered with Jax's plane and he tracked Jax down at Robin's house. Robin reasoned with Jax and convinced him to return his daughter to Carly but Sonny still held Jax at gunpoint and threatened his life. Robin stepped in to protect her friend and was grazed by a bullet that Sonny had fired. Jax escaped but shortly after his plane crashed and he was presumed dead. Carly blamed Sonny for Jax's death and she cut off Sonny's access to their son Morgan.

Sonny received more bad news when Kristina required surgery to remove a bone fragment that was near her spine. He initially assumed the damage had been caused by Kristina's abusive ex-boyfriend, but he blamed Johnny when he learned the car bomb that Sonny had planted in Johnny's car might have been the cause. Sonny became further enraged when Kristina forgave Johnny for his role in pretending to date her yet she did not want anything to do with her father. Sonny paid Johnny a visit at his apartment and threatened his life until Olivia walked in and intervened.

As Sonny continued to spiral out of control, Kate Howard reached out to him and they started to repair their relationship. Sonny leaned on Kate when Dante was shot at the coffee warehouse, and soon old feelings resurfaced. Sonny and Kate attended a New Year's Eve bash at the Metro Court together where Michael announced that Jax was alive -- and Carly had known all along. Kate defended Sonny and the pair attacked Carly for allowing everyone to grieve for Jax.

Sonny was hopeful about his second chance with Kate but she was unsure of her ability to deal with the danger in his life. Luke had given Sonny a copy of Johnny's real birth certificate showing that Claudia and deceased mobster Gino Soleito had been his biological parents, not Anthony and Maria Zacchara as Johnny had been raised to believe. Sonny was confident that the news would turn Johnny and Anthony against each other, and the Zaccharas would be too busy killing each other to bother Sonny. Sonny assured Kate that she had nothing to worry about.

Johnny was torn apart by the news yet he made a drunken appearance at a charity benefit that Sonny held in honor of Dante. Johnny accused Sonny of trying to buy Dante's affection and Sonny responded by revealing the truth about Johnny's parents to everyone present at the benefit. Dante was outraged that his father had used the event to torment Johnny. Dante and Sonny argued in the parking garage, but Sonny caught a glimpse of a shooter taking aim at Dante. Sonny pushed him out of the way and took the bullet.

Instead of heading for the hospital after being shot, Sonny went to Johnny's penthouse and accused him of trying to kill Dante. Sonny was shocked when he found Carly with Johnny, but she provided Johnny with an alibi. Johnny revealed that Anthony had made a previous attempt on Dante's life, so Sonny might want to question Johnny's "grandfather." Sonny tracked Anthony down and held him at gunpoint until Anthony's new bride, Tracy Quartermaine, intervened. Anthony tried to flee town, but someone shot Anthony's tires out, and he crashed into another vehicle.

Anthony survived but two passengers in the other vehicle were killed. Michael and Dante suspected Sonny had fired shots at Anthony's vehicle but Sonny swore that he was innocent. The cloud of suspicion returned to Sonny when the gun that had fired the bullet that shot out Anthony's tire was found in Kate's office. Sonny accused Johnny of trying to frame him, but the police built a case against Sonny.

Starr Manning, the mother of the young child and the fiancée of the young man killed in the accident, was certain that Sonny was to blame, so her father Todd Manning confronted Sonny after Sonny's hearing. Todd held a gun on Sonny and warned him that he would pay for the lives that Sonny had destroyed. A police officer from Llanview named John McBain intervened, and he and Sonny acknowledged that their paths had crossed before.

As Starr and Todd grieved the loss of their loved ones, Sonny grieved the loss of his friend Robin when she was presumed killed in a lab explosion at the hospital. He and Robin had been estranged at the time of her death, but Sonny spoke at her funeral about the courage, strength, and grace that she had shown when she had lost Stone. Sonny regretted that he had run out of time to repair his friendship with Robin, but Kate remained by his side and reassured him that Robin knew how much he had cared.

After Robin's funeral, Sonny focused on preparing for the trial, and he was concerned that Michael questioned his innocence after Michael struck up a friendship with Starr Manning. He asked Michael to stay away from her because she might use him to gain information. Sonny also warned Jason that a threat from his past in Atlantic City had reemerged. The threat was a former FBI agent named John McBain. He told Jason that John had a personal vendetta against him because John blamed Sonny for John's sister's death.

In early spring 2012, Sonny's trial began, and Michael, Kate, and Dante were all called to testify. Sonny was found not guilty. Kate offered to throw Sonny a party at the Metro Court to celebrate his birthday and the acquittal. Sonny was not thrilled with the idea but he agreed to it to appease Kate after all the stress she had been under supporting him through the trial.

On the evening of the party, Sonny grew concerned when he was unable to find Kate. He discovered that his birthday cake had been destroyed, so he called Kate's phone. His alarm mounted when he heard Kate say Johnny's name in a way that sounded like she was in danger and he raced to Johnny's penthouse. When he arrived, he found Kate and Johnny in bed together and immediately assumed that Johnny had forced himself on her. He was shocked and enraged when Kate claimed that she had wanted to be with Johnny and that she had been sleeping with him for the past few months. Sonny was disgusted by both of them and fired two shots into the wall of Johnny's bedroom before he left.

When Sonny returned home, Carly joined him. Carly conceded that she and Sonny had been wrong to trust Johnny and Kate. They each reflected on their relationships, and Sonny recalled several incidents in the recent months when Kate had asked to meet him but she had not been there when he arrived. Carly interjected that Kate had probably been with Johnny, but Sonny insisted that Kate had loved him. He could not explain Kate's erratic behavior, but he confided to Carly that Kate had been seeing Dr. Ewen Keenan. Sonny hoped that the doctor might be able to shed some light on Kate's relationship with Johnny.

Sonny encountered Kate at the hospital, and she begged him to hear her out. She shared that it had not been her in the bed with Johnny; it had been her alternate personality "Connie Falconeri." According to Kate, she suffered from dissociative identity disorder (DID). Shortly afterwards, Dr. Keenan was clobbered over the head, and Kate was arrested. Sonny remained hurt by what Kate/Connie had done but he arranged for Alexis to provide legal counsel for Kate.

Sonny believed Kate's claim that she suffered from DID after he witnessed her arguing with herself in front of a mirror then the "Connie" personality emerged. "Connie" accused Sonny of placing Kate in danger then explained that she was in charge of protecting Kate and that included keeping her away from Sonny. "Connie" also claimed that she had been the one that had shot out Anthony Zacchara's tires then framed Sonny so Kate would be forced to end her relationship with him. When Sonny was found not guilty, "Connie" arranged for him to find her in bed with Johnny.

When Kate regained control, Sonny told her about his encounter with "Connie" and the steps that she had taken to prevent the police from finding out her involvement in the car accident. Kate was horrified to learn what she had done and she wanted to confess to Starr. Alexis arranged for Kate to be moved to Shadybrook for treatment, and Sonny worked to protect Kate from Starr's father after he overheard that Kate/Connie had been responsible for the deadly accident.

As Sonny continued to protect Kate, he also dealt with the ongoing investigation conducted by John McBain. Sonny explained to John that as a young man he had joined Joe Scully's organization after his heart was broken by his teenage girlfriend. Sonny had been sent to Atlantic City to keep tabs on Joe's reckless son Joe Jr. at the strip club that Joe Jr. had managed. John's sister, Theresa, danced at the club and Joe Jr. had taken an interest in her but she did not return Joe Jr.'s feelings. Sonny tried to protect Theresa but Joe Jr. had killed her. After Sonny's arrest for the crime, Joe Scully Sr. had arranged for the charges to be dropped. Sonny gave John as much information that he could on how to locate Joe Jr., but John warned Sonny that he would be back if he learned that Sonny had lied to him.

The flames of Sonny's anger toward Joe Scully Jr. were fanned when Kate remembered the event that had triggered her DID. When Kate and Sonny had dated as teens, they had decided to run away together. Sonny had planned to find legitimate employment while Kate attended college. Instead, Joe Scully Jr. raped Kate because he was jealous of the respect that Sonny had earned from his father. Kate did not tell Sonny because she feared he would kill Joe Jr. Weeks later, Kate learned that she was pregnant, so she ran away rather than tell Sonny. Kate gave birth in a rented room, left the baby in a drawer, then walked away.

Sonny forgave Kate for running away, and they became engaged again. As Kate planned the wedding, they learned that Kristina had eloped. Sonny was horrified when he learned that Kristina's husband - Trey Mitchell - was an alias for Joseph Mitchell Scully III. Trey was the child that Kate had given birth to. Sonny decided to keep the information from Kate until after the wedding, unaware that she had uncovered the truth herself. On the day of wedding, "Connie" emerged to announce that she was unable to marry Sonny because she had married to Johnny Zacchara.

After the marriage announcement, Sonny demanded that "Connie" be taken to Shadybrook for psychiatric care. Alexis explained that only a close relative or "Connie's" husband had the authority to commit her. At the same time, Joe Jr. had resurfaced, and he had kidnapped Kristina during the wedding with the intention of killing her. Trey located his father's hideout, and he saved Kristina. In the chaos, Joe Jr. managed to escape. Kristina learned Trey's true identity and annulled her marriage.

Shortly after losing his bride, Sonny suffered a double-blow in October when his trusted accountant Bernie Abrams and Sonny's right-hand, Jason Morgan, were presumed killed. Bernie's body was found, but Jason's body had been dumped into the harbor, and it was believed that it had washed out to sea. Joe Jr. was also killed, and Trey believed that Sonny had been behind his father's death. Sonny swore he was innocent and asked Trey to file the paperwork to commit his mother to Shadybrook. Trey eventually agreed to petition the court to commit "Connie" for psychiatric care but his petition was denied.

Sonny tried to focus on his children especially after he learned that Michael's biological father was not only alive but back in town. A.J. had returned to Port Charles when he learned that Jason was gone. A.J. didn't waste any time reaching out to connect with Michael. Sonny was angered by A.J.'s presence and warned his Michael to stay away. However, Michael refused to listen because he wanted to get to know his biological father.

Although Sonny was disappointed with Michael's choice, he gave Michael space, and he tried to get through to Kate again. He hired Shawn Butler to kidnap "Connie" and he held her captive in his warehouse. While "Connie" was there, he and a psychiatrist each tried to get through to Kate. His attempt failed and he was forced to release "Connie" when Michael walked in. Michael was upset by his father's actions and saw it as proof that Sonny was the person that A.J. claimed Sonny to be.

Michael later learned that A.J. had set-up the confrontation, so Michael ordered a truce between Sonny and A.J. They reluctantly agreed to allow the other a place in Michael's life. Sonny then turned his focus to "Connie" as she struggled with the unexpected death of her son Trey. Sonny supported "Connie" while she grieved and they developed feelings for one another. After they spent an intimate night together, Kate emerged and felt betrayed by Sonny's time with "Connie." Kate and "Connie" battled for control -- and for Sonny. They demanded to know who he loved, so Sonny declared that he had feelings for both women and could not choose. Sonny was granted a reprieve in choosing when Kate left to receive psychiatric care.

While Kate was gone, Sonny's former love Brenda briefly returned to attend the Nurses Ball. Although Brenda was engaged to Jax, she declared her love for Sonny and asked him to leave town with her. Sonny admitted that he would always love her but explained that the timing was not right for them and she left town alone.

With Brenda gone, and Kate still in treatment, Sonny spent more time with Olivia as they celebrated the news that they were to be grandparents. After Kate's integration, she returned to Port Charles using her childhood name Connie Falconeri, but she decided to end her relationship with Sonny. She explained that she could not be with Sonny and maintain her integration. Sonny was devastated. Olivia comforted Sonny over his breakup with Connie. In return, Sonny and Olivia were there for each other when Lulu was kidnapped and suffered from amnesia. After Lulu recovered, Olivia and Sonny remained close.

Sonny was forced to realize the depth of his feelings for Olivia after Franco was revealed to be alive. Franco returned to Port Charles and claimed that he wanted to make amends to everyone he had hurt. Sonny planned to kill Franco when the time was right but Carly took matters into her own hands. She convinced Shawn that Sonny had ordered a hit and Shawn took a shot at Franco. However, Olivia was shot instead.

Sonny was furious with Carly, and in the heat of the moment threatened to end Carly's life if Olivia died. His anger cooled after Olivia survived and Sonny learned that another shooter, not Shawn, had shot Olivia while aiming for Franco. When Olivia was released from the hospital, Sonny took her to his home so he could care for her as she recovered. Just as Olivia and Sonny grew closer romantically, Connie announced that she still loved Sonny and wanted him back. Olivia removed herself from the situation and wished them well.

Just as Connie and Sonny began to reconnect, Morgan confided in Sonny that his girlfriend Kiki had feelings for Michael but falsely believed that Michael was her cousin. Connie overheard the conversation and revealed the information publicly although Sonny had asked her to keep the information private. Sonny was furious with Connie, and he questioned if he had made a mistake by not pursing Olivia.

On August 23, 2013 -- before Sonny had the opportunity to work things out with Connie -- he found her fatally wounded from a gunshot. Sonny held her as she died and his mental health declined in the weeks following her death. He believed that A.J. had murdered Connie and he vowed to make him pay.

Olivia and Carly both watched over Sonny as he grieved. They were unable to stop him from publicly announcing that Morgan had rushed to marry Kiki because he knew that she was not related to Michael. The confession destroyed Sonny's relationship with Morgan while his business was threatened by the Jerome family. Julian Jerome had been revealed to be alive and determined to reclaim his old territory. Meanwhile, Morgan lashed out against his father and teamed up with the Jerome family. When Sonny learned of the actions that Morgan had taken against him, Olivia offered her support. Sonny and Olivia became lovers.

Sonny kidnapped the Jeromes' associate, Carlos Rivera, to send a message to Julian. When Julian arrived to rescue Carlos, a gunfight ensued. Morgan and Sonny ended up holding guns on one another but Sonny immediately dropped his weapon as Max Giambetti approached. Morgan panicked and shot Max in the chest. Sonny asked Morgan to help him care for Max until the ambulance arrived but Morgan left with Julian. When the police arrived, Sonny covered for Morgan and was arrested for shooting Max.

Eventually Sonny and Morgan reconciled but Sonny required his son to end his association with the Jerome family, including Ava -- Morgan's older lover. Morgan convinced his father that Ava was willing to change allegiances with documents that Ava had procured, but Sonny speculated that his brother Ric had secretly bankrolled Julian's operation. While Sonny and Shawn investigated Julian's finances, someone made an attempt on A.J.'s life.

Sonny reminded Michael and the police that he had promised not to harm A.J. because his death would bring Michael pain. However, in March 2014, Sonny walked in on what he believed was A.J. strangling Ava in her home, he had a flashback of A.J.'s hands around Connie's neck and he shot A.J. in the chest. As A.J. battled for his life, Ava and Sonny tried to point suspicion toward Julian while they developed alibis. In truth, A.J. had confronted Ava for framing him for Connie's murder, and Ava played the victim to get Sonny to kill A.J. before A.J. could reveal that she had killed Connie.

Duke Lavery provided Sonny with a false alibi for the time period in which A.J. was shot. After A.J.'s death, Ava continued to cover up Sonny's crime, and she convinced her associate Carlos Rivera to confess to the murder. Sonny regretted the pain that he had caused Michael and he leaned on Ava for emotional support. They slept together once but both immediately realized that it had been a mistake. Unfortunately, Morgan had walked in on them, which derailed their relationship, and all the inroads they had made in repairing it. Olivia also walked away from Sonny over his indiscretion with Ava.

Sonny's recklessness with Ava continued to haunt him after Carly obtained proof that Ava had killed Connie. When Sonny went to kill Ava to avenge Connie's death, Ava announced that she was pregnant by either Sonny or Morgan. He agreed to spare Ava's life until his child or grandchild was born but Sonny promised that her life would end immediately after she delivered the child. Meanwhile, Sonny and Carly grew closer despite her relationship with Franco. Before long, Sonny and Carly were embroiled in an affair, unaware that their liaison was not a secret to Carly's fiancé.

Sonny viewed Franco as a threat to his future with Carly and to his relationship with Michael because Franco knew the truth about A.J.'s death. Sonny had hoped to have Franco killed before Carly married Franco, but the groom confronted Carly about the affair by playing a video for all the guests of Sonny confessing to A.J.'s murder. Michael was enraged and went after Sonny with a gun but Sonny was taken into police custody. In the midst of the revelation about A.J., Ava was abducted, and forced to give birth to a baby girl. Nina Clay had suffered a mental breakdown, and she believed that Ava owed Nina a child for the one that Nina lost during Ava's affair with Nina's husband. Nina took the newborn, and with Franco, fled to Canada with the intention of starting over.

Sonny confessed to A.J.'s murder, and he was transferred to Pentonville. He turned the reins of his organization over to Duke, and he pushed Carly away to spare her being tied to a man behind bars. In prison, Sonny reconnected with Johnny Zacchara and was shocked to learn that Johnny had formed an alliance with the Jerome family. Through the new alliance, Johnny was released from prison while Julian took his place at Pentonville. Sonny also ran into Ava in prison and learned that she had named their daughter Avery. Franco and Nina had been apprehended, and Michael had taken custody of Sonny's newborn daughter to safeguard her against Sonny and Ava.

In an ironic twist, Julian and Sonny joined forces against Johnny and Luke Spencer. Along with Franco and Ava, Julian and Sonny escaped from prison and raced to save their loved ones. However, Johnny and Carlos tracked them down and a shoot-out ensued. Julian was shot in the leg while Sonny took off to rescue their sons from Luke's most recent threat. Along the way, Sonny found Ava and discovered that she had been shot by Carlos and had fallen off a bridge. Sonny was unable to save Ava but he arrived at the Haunted Star as Michael held a bomb which was about to detonate. Sonny took the bomb from Michael and jumped into the harbor in time to save everyone.

Sonny survived the explosion and received a Governor's pardon for his actions. As a free man, he brought his new daughter home and rekindled his romance with Carly. For a while, Ava was presumed killed until she returned to town posing as her own long lost identical twin, "Denise DeMuccio." The ruse worked for a short while, but it was her affair with the new district attorney that had made all of her legal woes go away and had allowed Ava to once again live as a free woman.

Sonny and Ava battled for custody over Avery, but Sonny prevailed in court. Ava was granted supervised visitation at Sonny and Carly's discretion, and Sonny made a point of raising Avery with Carly as her primary mother figure. Kiki also spent time with her sister, and she supported Sonny's decision to keep Ava's contact with Avery to a minimum. Sonny and Carly continued to have their ups and downs, but they were married for the fourth time on October 14, 2015.

When a mystery man named Jake Doe surfaced in town, his brief flashes of memory indicated that he had a close connection to several people. However, Jake had suffered a devastating injury to his face when he was struck by a car, and it took a DNA test to reveal that he was Jason Morgan. "Jason" had suffered extensive memory loss, but the bond between Sonny, Carly, and "Jason" remained strong. That changed when "Jason's" memories returned, and he made the decision to step away from the mob for Sam and their son, Danny. Sonny and Carly were overjoyed to have Jason back, and they supported his decision but they were sad that he had taken a step back from the organization. That didn't stop Sonny and Carly from opening their home to "Jason" and Sam when the couple decided to get married. To everyone's delight, "Jason" and Sam shared the news on their wedding day that they were expecting their second child.

Sonny's relationships with his sons also shifted during this time. Dante was a family man with a young son, and Sonny enjoyed being a doting grandfather and going to baseball games with Dante and Rocco. Sonny was also happy because he and Michael had made peace, but Michael continued to embrace his Quartermaine roots by living with Monica and running ELQ. Sonny respected Michael's choices, and he often relied on Michael's level-headed thinking. Additionally, Sonny enjoyed a close relationship with Kristina, and he was one of the first people to accept her when she revealed that she was bisexual.

Meanwhile, Morgan had showed signs of following in Sonny's footsteps with emotional rollercoasters and destructive behavior that ultimately led to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Sonny carried tremendous guilt that he had passed the disease down to his youngest son, but he was also a source of strength and guidance to Morgan as Morgan navigated the world trying to balance therapy, medication, and personal relationships.

Tragically, Ava exploited Morgan's illness when she discovered that Morgan and Kiki had rekindled their relationship. Ava decided to break them up by replacing Morgan's lithium with placebos to trigger a manic episode. Ava's hope was that Kiki would realize that Morgan's illness was too much for her daughter to handle. However, Kiki -- as well as Sonny and Carly -- relied on Morgan's medication because they had no idea that Morgan had been completely unmedicated. As Morgan's life spiraled, Sonny and Carly did their best to help their son, but they couldn't stop Morgan from stealing Julian Jerome's car one fateful night in early October 2016.

"Jason" gave chase as he talked to Morgan on a cell phone. Eventually, Morgan agreed to pull over, but to "Jason's" horror the car exploded as Morgan opened the door. The intense explosion left little behind, and only Morgan's finger was recovered from the ashes. Sonny and Carly were devastated by the loss, and each carried tremendous guilt that they had not seen just how bad Morgan's mental state had gotten.

More trouble loomed on the horizon when a woman named Nelle Benson exploited Morgan's death by drugging Sonny's drink when he opened up to her about his loss. Nelle had been revealed to be Carly's adopted father's daughter from a relationship after he had left Virginia and Carly. Nelle had arrived in Port Charles when Carly had decided to search for Josslyn's kidney donor. Jax had paid Frank Benson to find a kidney for Josslyn on the black market not knowing that Frank would use his own child as the donor. Nelle carried deep resentment that she'd been used as an organ donor then discarded by her wealthy "sister," so she had set out to destroy Carly's family from the inside.

Nelle's plan nearly had nearly succeeded. Carly left Sonny to Josslyn's delight. Josslyn resented Sonny for getting her father deported and blocked Jax from re-entering the country. However, Nelle's lies quickly caught up with her, and Sonny and Carly emerged stronger than ever -- and united. Nelle shifted gears. She announced that she was pregnant with Michael's child. Michael decided to play nice with Nelle to bide his time until the child was born, but she had other plans.

Nelle focused on gaslighting Carly to make her believe that Morgan was alive and in need of rescuing. Next, Nelle threw herself down a flight of stairs during her baby shower then accused Carly of trying to kill her and her unborn child. Carly was forced to plead not guilty by reason of insanity to avoid being sent to Pentonville, but it took an attempt on Michael's life to expose Nelle for who she really was. Michael survived, but it was believed that his baby with Nelle had been stillborn.

In truth, Nelle had switched babies with Brad Cooper's newly adopted son who had died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Carly was set free, and she and Sonny were on hand to help Michael through the loss of his son.

Sonny and Carly had also learned the truth about Ava's role in tampering with Morgan's medication, but Sonny had decided to spare Ava's life when she was badly disfigured in a fire because he had wanted her to live in misery with what she had done. He also vowed to make certain that Avery knew that Ava had been the reason that Morgan had died.

In the summer of 2017, Sonny had a close brush with death when Sam attacked him at an abandoned distillery that had been scheduled for demolition. Gravely injured from a gunshot, Sonny was trapped at the bottom of a mineshaft. As he slowly faded, he had a vision of Stone. It gave him the strength to keep fighting until help arrived. As Sonny recovered in the hospital, he declined to press charges against Sam because she had been diagnosed with toxoplasmosis, which had led to her erratic behavior and vivid hallucinations. Sonny and Carly loved Sam, and they were Emily Scout's godparents.

A few months later, Sonny received a call that someone had broken into one of his safehouses, so Sonny decided to check it out. He was shocked when he encountered a man known as "Patient 6" who had claimed to be the real Jason Morgan. Sonny heard the man out and looked into his eyes then realized that it was true. Later, they would learn that the man known as Jake Doe was Andrew Cain -- Jason Morgan's long lost identical twin brother. Drew had been abducted by Cesar Faison under Helena's orders because she had planned to create the perfect soldier by having Jason's memories implanted in Drew. Drew's memories had been wiped clean, but the plan was foiled when Robin Scorpio -- who had been revealed to be alive and another prisoner of Helena's -- had helped Drew to escape the facility.

Jason resumed his place at Sonny's side, while Drew picked up the pieces. Sonny had also reconnected with his father just as Mike began to exhibit the early stages of Alzheimer's. Sonny moved his father into Greystone, and he took steps to make certain that his father received the best care possible. Ironically, the illness drew Mike and Sonny closer than they had ever been. Sadly, Sonny was forced to admit that his father needed a more secure facility after several alarming incidents. However, he took comfort in knowing that Mike had found love with a fellow patient.

Meanwhile, Josslyn had warmed back up to her stepfather, and she had moved back into Greystone Manor. Josslyn also had a boyfriend named Oscar Nero who had turned out to be Drew's son from a relationship prior to his abduction. Josslyn's joy turned to sorrow when Oscar was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor that was inoperable. As Oscar's life faded, Carly was shocked to discover that she was pregnant. Sonny and Carly were happy about the news, but as Carly's pregnancy advanced tests revealed that the baby had spina bifida. Sonny and Carly decided to keep the news to themselves as they underwent more tests to determine the severity of their unborn child's birth defect.

Sonny also had his hands full with Dev Cerci, a teenage boy that he had met in Turkey when Sonny and Robert Scorpio had joined forces to rescue Dante. Dante had gone undercover to infiltrate an arms dealer's organization only to lose touch with his WSB handlers. Dev had helped Sonny access the compound where Dante had been kept, so Dev had arrived in Port Charles hoping to get a fresh start in the United States. Sonny saw himself in the boy, so he arranged for Dev to get the necessary paperwork that established Dev as Sonny's distant cousin's grandson, "Devon Corbin."